Whenever you think about certain products, you probably can't help but associate them with distinct brands. There's no doubt that such a direct link translates into a virtuous cycle of brand success and recognition. And marketing experts know that.But how do you make this happen online? At the end of the day, the internet is flooded with brand names. Branded keywords are the answer. In today’s post, we’ll share:
- What are branded keywords
- The benefits of ranking for branded keywords
- How you can optimize for branded keywords and maximize their potential
Ready? Let’s dive in.
What Are Branded Keywords?
Simply put, branded keywords are keywords that include brand names. This way, they’re directly or tangibly associated with the brand’s name, products, or services. Need an example? SEORadar's branded keywords would cover queries like these:
- Seoradar
- Seoradar pros and cons
- Seoradar blog
- How to use Seoradar
If a brand is popular and its target audience looks for their products/services precisely, search volumes for branded keywords are likely to be high. However, bear in mind that generic names of your products or services aren’t really applicable as branded keywords. A simple example would be an SEO company offering "auditing" services. The company can never claim “auditing” as a branded keyword.Why? Because such terms are so widely used by all SEO services companies that it’s impossible to brand them as your own. Branded keywords are always unique to your business specifically.
Should You Rank for Branded Keywords?
You should most definitely rank for branded keywords. In fact, it should be your first SEO goal.Why? Well, branded keywords offer two main advantages:
- They generate the most sales*
- They have the highest click-through rates*
*Compared to all other types of keywords you can target.There’s a very simple reason behind it. Users looking for branded keywords have a crystal-clear idea of what they’re looking for. And they’re looking for you.But the key to success with branded keywords is knowing how to use them. Now, let’s take a look at how to do branded keyword optimization.The worst case scenario, when it comes to branded keywords, is that when searching for your brand, users find your competitors first. You never want competitors to outrank you for branded keywords. You’ll want to rank as high as you can, organically, because there’s nothing you can do to prevent your competitors from including your branded keywords in their PPC campaigns.For instance, take a look at what happens when we search for knowledge management tool Notion on Google:
SEORadar’s 2023 Guide to Branded Keyword Optimization
There are many ways to optimize for branded keywords and stay ahead of your competition.Here are some you may want to consider:
- Plan off-site SEO efforts
- Take advantage of your site links
- Check your company’s name in search engines
- Create quality content around your brand
- Take advantage of Google Search Console
- Include your brand name in guest posts
- Build backlinks
Let’s take a closer look.
Plan Off-Site Efforts
There are some off-site efforts you can take advantage of to strengthen your positioning for branded keywords.SEO experts know that to maximize your organic visibility, you have to create and develop a solid online presence. But how do you do it? Build brand awareness by:
- Maintaining a strong social media presence
- Guest posting
- Reaching out to potential partners and clients directly
- Joining online directories and review sites
Take Advantage of Your Site Links
To optimize for keywords, especially brand keywords, pay attention to your brand's site links.When a user searches for your brand, Google complements the top research result with up to 6 links from that domain. These are called site links and they bring up to 10 times more traffic than other pages on your website.Make sure these pages are highly relevant. And be sure to include:
- Images
- Calls to action
- Testimonials
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Statistics
Your goal here is to make them effective landing pages. Nevertheless, as site links are extremely visible and powerful traffic magnets, and you can’t choose what sites will display, consider optimizing all your pages.
Check Your Company Name in Search Engines
What’s a good starting point for your branding keyword optimization strategy? Searching your company name on Google and paying attention to autocomplete.
Google autocompletes suggests the branded keywords your potential visitors are searching for. Branded traffic is easy to convert, so make sure you get these users to your website.This will also help you find any branded keywords you’re not ranking for.Additionally, consider looking at other SERP features such as:
- The "people also ask" section
- Related searches
- Image and video results
These are all easy ways to expand your reach and take up brand space. And you can get all these insights just by looking at the SERPs.
Create Quality Content Around Your Brand
It's no secret that Google loves good content. So if you're not creating quality content to support your branded keywords, you're missing out on perhaps the best strategy. Some content pieces you can create are:
- Educational blog posts
- E-books
- FAQs pages
- Case studies
You can choose any option you like. Your content’s goal should be to establish trust with both readers and search engines. We strongly recommend producing comparative content and product showdowns. It's a crafty way to provide value and boost your branded traffic. However, remember that quality is paramount when it comes to content. You can learn how to create high-quality SEO-friendly content with this detailed guide.
Take Advantage of Google Search Console
Among all the tools you can use to optimize for brand keywords, Google Search Console is one of the most effective. Google Search Console helps you discover what people are searching for so you can optimize and rank for those branded terms.
Include Your Brand Name on Guest Posts
Many content teams frequently create guest posts or distribute their content across third-party platforms: one way to optimize branded keywords is to get your brand name on guest posts.Also, consider getting links with branded anchor text that include your target keyword. Anchor text tells Google to start associating those branded keywords with your website.
Build Backlinks
An incredibly powerful SEO method for optimizing keywords is to build backlinks. The great thing about branded terms is that you don't need a lot of these links to be the most relevant result: after all, your name is in the keyword.When it comes to building backlinks, we recommend:
- Prioritizing websites with a high domain rating
- Creating linkable content, instead of buying backlinks
Don’t have the time/resources to conduct a link-building campaign from scratch? Use a tool such as Buzzsumo to track brand mentions that aren’t linking to your website.
Don’t Overlook Technical SEO
While branded keywords should be in your list of SEO priorities, keywords aren’t the end-all-be-all of SEO. When was the last time you reviewed your website’s code for technical SEO issues?Changes to your website’s underlying code can result in unexpected SEO problems. However, keeping a detailed eye on code is time-consuming and tedious. Here’s where SEORadar can help you out.SEORadar is a technical SEO tool that monitors your code, so you don't have to. Using SEORadar, you can automatically crawl your entire code base (or just key pages), and get notified before any changes affect your rankings. Protect your rankings at scale with SEORadar. Request a demo or start a free trial today.
